Water Meets Fire
by MidnightsWater
Summary: Zuko has joined the group, everyone but Katara is okay with it. Could Katara be feeling more than just anger for Zuko? Will be following the series but there will be Zutara moments. Rating may go up.
1. Chapter 1

**_Author's Note: My Zutara story starts off between "The Western Air Temple" and "The Firebending Masters". I really wanted to start something simple, but also I wanted to know how Zuko tried to befriend Katara again. If there any suggestions please tell me. I would be grateful for reviews. I hope you enjoy. Also let me know if I misspelled any names or words, thank you. I do not own _**Avatar The Last Airbender_**, I am manipulating the characters for this story. **_

Katara had just finished threatening Zuko's life. Zuko could not feel upset or angry because he knew that what Katara said was true, it had to be. She was not going to trust him for a long time; he had betrayed her in Ba Sing Se. She did not want to see him; she threw water at him while he tried to be her prisoner. If it wasn't for Toph or Aang, he wouldn't be there.

That evening, the gang sat around a fire that Zuko had insisted he ignite. He felt like he needed to pull his own weight. He saw everyone help set up dinner, Katara made food while she ordered Sokka and Aang to find everyone. Tao, The Duke, and Haru helped bring bowls to Katara that Toph made out of the stone from the Air Temple. Katara didn't even allow him to ignite the fire she was using to boil water for the rice.

Things were never easy with Katara, Zuko concluded. Zuko sat between The Duke and Toph. "You can lighten up you know," he heard Toph whisper to him.

"Are you sure? I feel like Katara will bite my head off at any moment." He tried to keep his voice from showing any emotion, but failed. Toph smirked, so Sugar queen had threatened his life.

"She won't do anything with Aang around. Anyways Aang likes you. He says you saved him before but you weren't yourself." Zuko thought back to the night when he had disguised himself as the Blue Spirit and saved Aang from Zhao. He didn't regret his decision then, he felt lost again. After officially joining the group, everyone but Katara had accepted him. Why did he want her approval so bad?

Everyone continued to eat until the tension between Zuko and Katara had reached a boiling point. If looks could kill, Zuko would have been killed multiple of times. "Katara, stop staring at Zuko. He already feels out of place. You are making things awkward," Katara tried to take Aang's advice but she felt it was useless.

"If he wouldn't have shown up, he wouldn't feel out of place. We could have found someone else to teach you firebending. You didn't have to take him in Aang. He is worthless to us." At that Katara stood up, washed her dish in the fountain then cleaned the water from the fountain. Katara stalked off to her room that she was unhappily sharing with Toph. She grabbed her towel and soap and began to walk off to the small river they had found near the temple.

As she walked down the hall, she noticed a certain firebender's room, he had a picture of his uncle and some lady with long black hair. He traveled light. He had several pieces of clothes thrown across his bed and a blanket. Katara heard footsteps coming her way, she continued forward, removing any thoughts of the firebender.

"Katara. Where are you going?"

"Sokka, I'm going to wash up before I go to sleep. Is that a crime?" Katara's anger began to surface again, but who was she anger at.

"Can you lighten up? Zuko is trying to help us and all you are doing is pushing him away," Sokka rarely said anything smart. Katara was caught off guard.

"I'm not pushing him away. He is worthless." Little did Katara know that Zuko could hear every word she spoke. He knew what she thought of him but he hoped he had been wrong.

Zuko returned to his room and closed the door rather loudly to inform anyone within hearing distance to know his presence. Katara and Sokka both looked to wear the loud slam came from and realized it had come from Zuko's room. Katara's usual brown cheeks instantly turned to bright red, she didn't know he could hear her. What did it matter.

He knew how she felt about him, she hated him, hates him. She pushed Sokka out of her way and continued on her journey.

Once she made it to the river, she noticed how blue the water was. Maybe she could wash up and forget about the events of the last few days. But the universe was not in her favor.

As Katara stripped down to her bindings, she became self-conscious. What if Zuko saw her like this, vulnerable and exposed, no he wouldn't. No one had told him of the small river, she hoped. Katara descended into the cool water and swam around for several minutes. She began to think about what Zuko had told her about his mother.

His mother had been taken by the fire nation but that was impossible because his mother had to have been fire nation. He thought he knew everything just because he was few years older than her, well she would show him. Who was she angry at anyways. It wasn't necessarily Zuko's fault their plan had failed on the solstice. What if he knew about it though, he could have told his father. Why did he have a scar.

Katara couldn't get a grip on her thoughts, they all swirled around Zuko and his past, and his reasons for doing what he did. But did she really want to know. Of course not, but then he would exposed and she could play with his emotions like he did to her when he stole her mother's necklace. Maybe she could peek through his things and take whatever he has as leverage in case he tried to hurt Aang. That wasn't so bad.

After Katara's bath, she returned to her room where Toph had been waiting. "Sugar queen you need to apologize to Zuko." Katara was rather shocked considering Zuko had burned Toph's eyes, well feet.

"No. He doesn't deserve it. He hasn't proven himself."

"He hasn't done anything to you or any of us."

"YOU ARE WRONG! You wouldn't understand; none of you would." Katara stormed out her room. She rounded a corner and came to quick halt when she bumped something hard. Katara looked up and met the amber eyes of Zuko.

"Are you okay? I didn't see you. I'm sorry," Zuko offered his hand out to Katara. She slapped his hand away, "Get away from me."

Katara continued to run to the other side of the temple; she didn't care who saw her or what they were saying. She needed to figure things out before she lost her mind.


	2. Chapter 2

_**Author's Note: I wasn't quite sure what I was going for here, the characters started to write their own story. Any suggestion on how to make this better or any ideas, I am open to listen to them. Please review! Thank you for reading!**_

_**Disclaimer: I do not own **_Avatar: The Last Airbender.__

Chapter Two

Katara found herself sitting at the edge of one of the beautiful building, her legs swing back and forth as she thought of everything and nothing. She didn't hear the footsteps behind until she saw someone's hand rest against hers as they sat down. Her brother's hand.

Sokka had allowed Katara several hours to cool off on her own before he went out searching for her, she had been upset with everyone over nothing. However, Sokka knew deep down she had been hurting since they had found their father after Ba Sing Se and it was easier to blame the firenation for all the things that were wrong but in reality Katara hadn't actually faced the real person who caused all these problems. Herself.

"Katara, you have to let it go, it's okay now." Sokka soft voice rang in her ears but she refused to take any real notice to what he said. He didn't know what Zuko had done to her or what anyone had done to her.

"Zuko wants to help us now. You don't have to look behind you every time he is near, Katara don't push him away." Sokka stood up, figuring that his sister would either listen and take his advice or ignore it and continue to treat Zuko as an enemy.

Katara began to pounder what her brother had said, she missed her dad dearly. He had missed everything for them and her brother could just forgive so easily. Gran Gran had raised Sokka and her, even when their dad had been home, he was distant with his children. How was she suppose to feel. The war that Zuko's father was responsible for made her lose her mother and her father. Maybe she was blaming the wrong person, but Zuko was a direct descendent of the bastard.

Katara continued to sit on the small ledge until she heard heavy footsteps, it wasn't Toph's feet, no her steps were much heavier, and Sokka's were light, but not as light as Aang's.

She turned her head quickly to smack her forehead on someone's shin. Well that someone's shin was covered with a red color clothing, it was Zuko.

He sat next to her, trying to care for her forehead, which she didn't allow.

"I'm sorry Katara for everything. I thought you would forgive me. I know that I don't deserve it but…" his sentence fell short. Katara had stood up even though both of her legs were dead asleep, she began to walk away from the fire prince.

She left Zuko to his own thoughts. He knew he had screwed up with her. It was obvious, but now he was even more lost. He needed his uncle. Katara was so different from Mai, Mai never expressed how she felt. She didn't talk to Zuko the way Katara whenever Katara did talk to him. Katara yelled at him or sounded like she was scolding him for all his wrongs.

Mai was soft, she didn't yell at Zuko when he did something wrong. Actually, she never really seemed happy about anything, she refused to talk to Zuko about his problems when he had returned from Ba Sing Se. Maybe Mai knew something that she didn't want Zuko to know. Whatever it was, it didn't matter any longer.

Katara was strong, independent, hardheaded, and most of all she never backed down from anyone. He admired her, but most of all, he loved all her qualities. Wait, loved? He couldn't love her, she was annoying, she never spoke to him, the way she watched over everyone was annoying, but he liked it.

Zuko needed to get a grip and quick before anyone knew what he was thinking. Maybe Katara blamed him for something, he hadn't actually done. Just maybe.

The next day, Zuko woke up on that ledge. He could hear Aang calling his name from a short distance. He sat up and stretch his tight muscle, hoping he wouldn't be too sore for the day.

"Good morning, Sifu Hotman." Great, the Avatar already had a name for Zuko.

Zuko did his best to demonstrate to Aang how a move was supposed to look but failed. He had lost his fire, he no longer felt the burn inside him. What was happening to him. Zuko needed his uncle and he had no idea where he was.

Katara watched the boys firebend from afar but noticed Zuko's flames were small and there was no fury behind his eyes anymore. She thought about arguing with him again or creating a waterwhip but she knew deep down that wasn't going to help at all. Zuko was strong, soft, gentle, but ferocious, determined, and beyond everything else, he was a fighter.

That night after everyone had relaxed from a long day of training, Zuko announced he had lost his stuff.

"Don't look at me. I didn't touch your stuff," Toph announced to everyone. The Blind Bandit was known for cheating people out of games and stealing money from others during their trips into the Fire Nation.

"Not that, my firebending. It's gone," Zuko was ashamed for having to admit this, he was supposed to be a master and he couldn't even produce a small amount. Katara laughed and that infuriated Zuko.

"Sorry I'm laughing at the irony. You know it would have been nice if you lost your firebending awhile ago." Katara had already witnessed Zuko's firebending earlier and felt bad for the guy but she felt like he also deserved it. It wasn't her fault that he decided to try to capture Aang and failed.

"It's not gone, just not as strong as it was before." Zuko replied to the giggling waterbender.

"Or you just aren't as good as you thought," Katara's reply came out like venom, she hadn't meant it but it was true, he had always thought himself as a master or she thought.

Now it seemed like he was lost and could no longer find the fire within him. He deserved a little bit of Katara's rude remark, but she knew that she couldn't blame him for everything. She had to find a way to deal with her problem.

Later that night, while everyone had gone into their rooms, Katara patted through the hallways, inspecting that everyone had gone to sleep. She found herself staring at Zuko's sleeping form, he looked like a teenager for once, not quite a man yet but almost there. His scar was hidden from her view, the wrinkles he usually wore were now smoothed out and he looked handsome. Katara startled when Zuko started to stir, she could either run or stay right where she was. Needless to say, she stayed staring at the banished Fire prince. He began to move more in his sleep, his face twisted with pain and Katara could see he was having a nightmare. She walked over to his sleeping form, kneeled down next to his bed, and began to rub small circles on his right shoulder and hummed the same song her mother would sing to her as she fell asleep. Instantly Zuko calmed and buried his face farther into the pillow he was laying on.

Katara was about to stand up when Zuko's fingers wrapped around her wrist. "Stay," his voice was hoarse and coarse with sleep still, his right eye was half lidded and his left was still shut completely. Katara contemplated whether she should join Toph but soon realized she wouldn't get any sleep. At least here with Zuko, she could get peaceful sleep.

Zuko scooted over to the opposite side of the bed and offered his pillow and most of the blanket he had. Katara slipped in quietly and turn onto her left side, facing away from Zuko. "Thank you," if everyone hadn't been asleep, Zuko would have missed her words.

"Katara, what has made you so hateful to me? I have done so many bad things, I just want to know which ones were the worst." Katara was stunned to hear him, she hadn't really considered which hatred things made her most mad at him. She turned over to face him and saw his bright golden eye piercing into her bright blue eyes.

He still had his scared eye pushed deeply into the mattress they shared, before she began, she reached out to trace the small red outline that started near his nose. Zuko removed his left side of his face from the mattress and allowed her to trace the outline up into his hair and around his ear. He couldn't described what he felt, it was soft, sensual, and cool like the water.

He hadn't liked when Mai had tried to touch to his scar, it just brought back bad memories and she would push on the skin until he felt the pressure. He had wished long ago for the scar to be removed but now it was a part of him, he now just wished to feel more from that portion of his face and to see more out of his eye.

"Your betrayal at Ba Sing Se was the worst, why did you chose your father over us Zuko? Over your uncle who would have done everything and anything for you?" Katara didn't know if she sounded weak nor did she care. She wanted to know why he had chosen his screwed up family over them, over her.

His eyes closed and she could sense that he was finding a way to say something without revealing too much. "I wanted to have my father's love again. But I've learned that what I wanted can't be given to me by him or my sister. I wanted my honor back, I wanted my life back and I had it. But it wasn't what I wanted anymore." It felt good to admit most of the truth to Katara, whether she understood or not, it was something he needed to say.

"Zuko, I'm glad you found your way again," with that, Zuko sat up quickly and listened for movement. "Zuko what are you doing?!" Katara angrily whispered shouted at him.

"Your brother is packing a bag, I can hear him going through the food. Ahhh, man I gotta go Katara," Zuko crawled over Katara's body and reached for his tunic. He began putting on his boots when he noticed Katara's raised eyebrow.

"Where are you going?" Zuko grabbed a small bag and started to throw simple things in it.

"I told your brother where your father might be and I'm pretty sure he is going to try find him, but don't worry. Wake up before everyone." Zuko quickly explained,nearly running out of the room.

Katara was outright furious, he had asked her to stay just for him to up and leave. She was completely enraged and planned to give the prince a piece of her mind once she got some sleep and was more awake for a conversation.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3: Dreams

**A/N: I have figured out where I wanted this to chapter to go, it took very long but I am satisfied with this chapter. Hopefully I can write out another chapter soon, life has taken over my writing and my mind is coming up with new plots. If anyone has any ideas please tell me, I am always open to suggestions especially since I get writers block. And on that note please review and I don't own ATLA. **

As Zuko manned the Fire Nation air balloon, Sokka was snoring loudly, but that didn't matter much to Zuko. Due to his Uncle's loud snoring, Zuko found comfort in the snoring, it reminded him of a simpler time when he was younger and was rid of his scar. He felt so bad for Katara; he left her alone in his room back at the air temple. He was trying to make things better between them since Ba Sing Se, but each time he tried he seemed to fail even more. He envied Katara. She was strong in her own way, she was hopeful something that Zuko strived to be, she was always looking at the brighter side of situations, and she never gave up no matter how defeat she was. Her spirit was strong unlike Zuko's. Zuko felt like a coward for leaving Mai, but he learned that he no longer loved Mai, but he also needed to help Aang defeat his father.

"When did things get so complicated," Zuko asked himself out loud. We wondered what was happening back at the Air Temple, he wondered if Katara had fallen asleep after all, if Aang was sleeping next to Appa, if Toph was still murmuring gibberish in her sleep, if the three other boys who were with the Gang when he showed up were still cuddle up against each other. This was a simple time for Zuko on the outside but internally he was struggling to find himself still.

_Back at the Air Temple _

Katara was in deep sleep in Zuko's bed with one of his blankets wrapped around her body. She was dreaming of a time when her mother was still alive, her father was still at home, and her brother was just a little boy pretending to be a warrior. Her mother was making food while Sokka tried to Katara away from his toys when Hakoda walked in his furs and boots. At least that's who the people looked like at first in her dream, she could hardly see their faces but she knew she was an outsider. When her vision in her dream cleared up a little more, she noticed that her mother was actually her, and the little boy only resembled Sokka but had another man's eye color and eye color, and the little girl looked much like Katara with a lighter complexion, but when her eyes landed on the man who walked through the igloo's doorway was still blurred.

Then the scene changed with the same people but in the Fire Nation wearing red robes in a garden with a turtle duck pond at their feet, she wasn't sure where she was anymore or who she was with. All she knew was that she was lost within her heart and in her dream. But once again, the scene changed and Katara watched as someone was burned alive, she could hear the cries, but she couldn't move. She chained to a wall and so were the two children who were in her last dreams, they were crying and screaming but she could not hear them. She tried to hush the children and tell them everything would be alright. And then before Katara could wake up, the little boy from her dreams was taken and he yelled out for his mother or so Katara thought. He was trying his best to fight against the soldier that was carrying him away and then as the little boy was tied down on a table, Katara woke herself up.

Her dream scared her and yet there was no one who she could talk to about it, she wanted to know if what she saw was true but he wasn't there to talk to her. Did the Fire Nation kill families who were captured or what had this family done to deserve such a punishment. Why did the dream take her through different scenarios after the war, what did this mean. Katara felt lost and even more afraid for her friends. Katara continued to bury herself in the blanket she had wrapped around herself but felt no comfort. She got up and walked out to one the many fountains that the Air Temple, she figured being her element may help rid her mind of the awful images she saw in her dream. Maybe when Zuko woke up in the morning, she would talk to him. Katara stayed in the water until the dawn and thought of looking for the fire bender when she remembered he had taken off in the middle of the night with Sokka. She was furious again as she remembered, she needed them to hurry back, they needed to move on soon and they had no idea if anyone followed Zuko from the Fire Nation.

_Back on the Air Balloon _

Zuko could feel his body awaken with the rise of the sun as he looked out. Sokka had slept most of the night; he only stirred when there was slight breeze. Zuko didn't mean the Water tribes man, he was easy to be with, as he grew up he didn't have many friends, mainly there were Azula's, and the closest he had to a friend were the men on his ship after his banishment. He chuckled as he remembered his stupidity just a year ago; it was odd to know that he had grown from that little teenager into a man. He missed his Uncle Iroh as well though, he had mistreated his Uncle in their travels together and now his Uncle wouldn't forgive him or see him. He just prayed that his Uncle was safe and okay considering the damage that was done at the prison when Zuko went to bust him out. He was more afraid of his Uncle never forgiving him than of his own father's wrath.

Not to mention, the disappointment he saw in his Uncle's eyes when he went to visit him, Zuko couldn't go on not knowing if he would ever find forgiveness from his Uncle. Sometimes Zuko needed help to get him out of his head but there was no one there to help him. Zuko walked over to Sokka and shook him awake. "Sokka, can you watch the air balloon for a while?" Sokka stirred, but didn't wake up. Zuko had to continue to yell Sokka's name in his ear until he finally woke up at the word "food".

While Sokka was sulking, he let Zuko get a couple of hours of sleep, it was odd for Zuko to sleep while the sun was out but he needed his strength. Zuko rarely remembered his dreams but this one time he did. He remembered being in one of the poles and of the two children who were in an igloo with him as he walked through the doorway, he remember the scene changing to one he was very familiar with, the little turtle duck pond that his mother would take him too, but the last scene of the dream woke Zuko with a start. He could the heat surround him, he knew that he was burning and he was screaming in pain but he looked out to the young children and that woman that wouldn't look at him but at the children. He cried for being defeated, he cried not from the blistering heat on his skin but from the pain that his family was being torn from him and they had to witness his death. All he wanted to do was fight back, but he couldn't. He didn't understand what was happening.

Sokka was shaking Zuko when Zuko woke up grabbing on to Sokka's upper arm. He had to remember where he was and why was there, after realizing that he was only dreaming, he rubbed at his temples hoping for some clarity but finding none. Why was this happening to him, was this dream a series of outcomes if Aang didn't defeat his father or if he did. And who were the children and the woman in his dreams.


End file.
